Harriet the Spy (1996)
On your case!
Filmmaker(s): Bronwen Hughes
When the secret notebook of a young girl who fancies herself a spy is found by her friends, her speculations make her very unpopular! Can she win her friends back?
Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Mystery...has met its match
Filmmaker(s): Katt Shea
Nancy Drew, a smart high schooler with a penchant for keen observation and deduction, stumbles upon the haunting of a local home. A bit of an outsider struggling to fit into her new surroundings, Nancy and her pals set out to solve the mystery, make new friends, and establish their place in the community
18 Jan Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019)
Embraced Balusters I’ve watched this version and the one with the same title from the thirties back to back. Originally it was in the service of my history of mysteries, but neither qualify. Only this one is worthy of comment, because of the apparent excellence...
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Filmmaker(s): Chiwetel Ejiofor
Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.
18 Jan The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Stealing Energy This is well enough made to hide its nature, what we used to call Hallmark movies. These are films that tell a story without irony, narrative elaboration or recognition of its cinematic conveyance. The closer to reality and the fewer theatrics the better....
The Magician’s Elephant (2023)
Dare to believe
Filmmaker(s): Wendy Rogers
Peter is searching for his long-lost sister when he crosses paths with a fortune teller in the market square. His only question is: is his sister still alive? The answer, that he must find a mysterious elephant and the magician who will conjure it, sets Peter off on a journey to complete three seemingly impossible tasks that will change the face of his town forever.
02 Dec The Magician’s Elephant (2023)
Layers Any children’s movie runs the risk of easily being reducible to a ‘message’, often mistakenly called a moral. I’ve already read a few reviews of this that mention the film’s message, and how wonderfully it is presented. I suppose if that is how you...
Moana (2016)
The ocean is calling.
Filmmaker(s): Ron Clements, John Musker
In Ancient Polynesia, when a terrible curse incurred by Maui reaches an impetuous Chieftain's daughter's island, she answers the Ocean's call to seek out the demigod to set things right.
19 Nov Moana (2016)
Disney within Disney I was expecting a standard, manufactured Disney Princess item. What I encountered was a powerful embodiment of myth in a young woman, with the notable exceptions of the coconut pirate and glittery crab sequences. These were conceived and directed by others. I...
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear overalls.
Filmmaker(s): Michael Jelenic, Aaron Horvath
While working underground to fix a water main, Brooklyn plumbers—and brothers—Mario and Luigi are transported down a mysterious pipe and wander into a magical new world. But when the brothers are separated, Mario embarks on an epic quest to find Luigi.
11 Sep The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
Winning I shudder with the knowledge that in a few days, this grossed higher than any Pixar movie. Imagineer that. This about as charmless as it gets without the floor falling off, so I can only attribute the success to love of the character. As...
Bingo (1991)
More hip than humanly possible.
Filmmaker(s): Matthew Robbins
Bingo, the runaway circus dog, is off the leash and saving Chuckie's life! Bingo and the boy become the best of friends in this canine comedy featuring doggy disguises and skateboarding, pinball and prison. Chuckie and his parents are moving house, a thousand miles away, but Bingo won't be allowed to join them.
28 Aug Bingo (1991)
The American Spirit One of the strongest influences in how a society imagines itself is film, and of films the strongest are where the characters are most abstract. Abstraction can be through cartoons or cartoonizing, stereotyping or extreme dramatizing. But the most elegant to my...
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
A journey, in search of home.
Filmmaker(s): Peter Baynton, Charlie Mackesy
The unlikely friendship of a boy, a mole, a fox and a horse traveling together in the boy’s search for home.
06 Aug The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (2022)
Ensnared The affirmative platitudes that anchor this are inescapable, and since they are relatively true, you may as well embrace them. My tween boys did, and I’m glad for it. But why I am recommending this is the art and animation. I have to admit...
27 Jul Betty Boop’s Hallowe’en Party (1933)
Underaware I really like some of these Betty Boop cartoons. Many of the early ones deal with the overlap of evil, sex and hallucinogens, often mixed with jazz and Black men. This is one of the tamer ones in terms of the evil tone: she’s...
